


(14. Overgrown) / Paradise Lost and Found

by Mothfluff



Series: GO-ctober Prompts 2019 [14]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: First Meetings, Garden of Eden, Gen, M/M, October Prompt Challenge, One Word Prompts, South Downs Cottage (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 14:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21055874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mothfluff/pseuds/Mothfluff
Summary: My attempts at an October Challenge, basically using the original Inktober prompts for drabbles.(Each prompt will be posted as part of a series, not chapters, so I can add tags/characters/ratings/trigger warnings for each instead of the whole she-bang)Prompt 14 - OvergrownHe knew it was best for him to steer clear of any angel, and yet – curiosity had not yet killed the cat, but it might kill him soon enough, he felt, if he didn't get a closer look.He slithered along the largest branches, matching the angel's speed slightly in front of him, staying unseen.Or so he thought.The angel stopped. So did Crawly. The angel turned around. Crawly could not.Their eyes met as Crawly wrapped around the last branch, still swaying from his movement. He was surprised to see nothing but – was that admiration? In an angel's eyes?His voice was equally filled with joy as he took a few steps towards the giant snake hanging from a branch that was barely holding up under its weight.“My goodness! Look at you!” A smile spread across the angels face, and Crawly, for reasons he did not want to understand, felt his heart begin to race.





	(14. Overgrown) / Paradise Lost and Found

Eden was a paradise – literally, of course. Lush and green, covered in everything the rest of Earth had yet to offer, fruit and nourishment at every corner. Adam and Eve had no fear of the animals, which gently went their own ways around the two humans, nor did they fear the guardians they rarely encountered – they shied from them, respected them, but there was no need yet for angels to introduce themselves with 'Do Not Be Afraid', as they would later learn.

But even in paradise, there were parts were they did not dare to tread too often. Places where the jungle grew thick, the floor unsteady, and where the sky was at times completely obscured by overgrowth, covering everything with a soft shade of dark green hues. Adam had gotten lost here for days on end, stumbled and fallen, and decided soon enough not to return unless absolutely necessary. Eve had never set foot in the place.

The snake Crawly considered it home.

He'd been sent up to stir up some trouble, originally, but for quite a while nothing had caught his eye that really needed to be troubled. So he'd set up shop in the branches of the most overgrown tree, enjoyed the midday suns and several long naps, and generally considered himself quite lucky to have escaped Hell for an unforeseen amount of time.

When Adam had stumbled past him, barely noticing the black scales between dark brown branches, he'd quietly cursed the fact that something to be troubled had finally shown up. But then again, Beelzebub had not exactly given him a time frame, and he was more than ready to stretch the truth if ever questioned. Besides, the strange, somewhat angel-shaped thing called a 'human' never showed up in his part of the woods again, and he almost forgot about it.

It took several more days for another intruder to show up in his own personal paradise of solitude.

This one was far more angel-shaped than Crawly liked to see, yet he could not look away. Yellow eyes followed him from a low branch as he trudged through the muddy grounds, slightly more agile than Adam had, but troubled nonetheless. His robe was covered in dirt, his wings carrying sticks and leaves from some uncomfortable brushes with the shrubbery all around. Quietly muttering to himself as he walked on, words Crawly couldn't make out.

He knew it was best for him to steer clear of any angel, and yet – curiosity had not yet killed the cat, but it might kill him soon enough, he felt, if he didn't get a closer look.

He slithered along the largest branches, matching the angel's speed slightly in front of him, staying unseen.

Or so he thought.

The angel stopped. So did Crawly. The angel turned around. Crawly could not.

Their eyes met as Crawly wrapped around the last branch, still swaying from his movement. He was surprised to see nothing but – was that admiration? In an angel's eyes?

His voice was equally filled with joy as he took a few steps towards the giant snake hanging from a branch that was barely holding up under its weight.

“My goodness! Look at you!” A smile spread across the angels face, and Crawly, for reasons he did not want to understand, felt his heart begin to race. “I've not seen any like you out in the garden! Are you all hiding in here?”

Another step forward, and with Crawly's eyes still fixed on his smile, the snake's tongue darted out and in, and oh, that was a very new kind of scent – he remembered what Heaven had smelled like, what most angels had smelled like, but there was something else in there, and his heart would not stop racing.

The angel stopped walking. His expression changed.

Crawly's heart fell. He recognised the look in his eyes now, the sudden realisation.

“You- you're not an animal.” His voice was wavering as he took the steps back, almost stumbling over a root, and a sword appeared in his hand, bathed in flames.

“_Calm down, angel.”_ Snakes were not meant to speak, so it was quite some trouble, but nothing he couldn't manage.

“St-stay back! I do not wish to smite you!” Well, that was certainly a new tactic for a heavenly guardian.

“_I'm not looking for a fffight.”_

“Then what are you doing here?!”

“_Me? You're the one who ssssssstarted walking around the placccce like you own it! I wasssss here firssst!”_

“This is- you- we're in Eden! You're not supposed to be here! You certainly don't own the place yourself!”

If a snake could shrug, he would've. Unfortunately, he could only relegate it to a soft sway of his head, which did not exactly help in making him seem less threatening.

“_I'm not doing anyttthhhing bad.” _That was not a lie, at least. He'd not done anything at all yet, except for relax and enjoy his freedom.

“Were you sent to harm the humans? She told us to guard them.” Crawly was confused about an angel doing idle chitchat instead of smiting him on the spot. He was even more confused by being given such information freely. This was an interesting one.

“_I will not harm them.” _

“I find that hard to believe.”

“_I promisssse.” _The snake's head swayed up, rising half way up the branch, and something in the angel's face changed again. For a second, Crawly expected to be struck down by the sword still shaking in his hands. Then the angel sighed.

“Fine, alright. Stay here then, in this- this jungle. Adam and Eve don't come here anyway. But I'm not- if you get into trouble, you've never-”

“_Never met you, angel.” _

“Yes.” A pause, and then. “Thanks.”

Crawly felt a shiver down his very long spine. Now  _that_ was both pleasant and unpleasant.

“Well. I'll be going. Didn't mean to come past here anyway. Just... lost track of the paths, I suppose.”

“_Ssssee you around, then.” _He couldn't keep from smirking, another thing a snake was not exactly supposed to do. 

~*~

The cottage's garden was a tiny, miniscule speck compared to Eden. It was paradise nonetheless. Vegetables and fruit filling the raised garden beds, flowers ranking along the stone walls, trees throwing soft shade over a small pond. It was immaculate, and Crowley took a lot of care to keep it that way.

Still, there were places were nature overtook nurture. A row of shrubbery turning into wild hedges, trees and bushes filling the way to the forest next to their house. Not a jungle, a far shot from it, but shaded and hidden and comfortably quiet.

Crowley considered it a home away from home. He'd gone out to deal with the chaos once or twice, and ended up enjoying it far too much to change any of it. Several afternoons had been spent napping on a blanket between the grass and greenery. The solitude had been comfortable, especially after a day running around with the Them, or another lengthy discussion with Anathema. 

He was almost drifting off to sleep when he heard the soft crunching of fallen leaves. A scent got caught in his nose – so familiar, even between all the smells and senses of the woods, he'd recognise it in a second.

His eyes blinked open to Aziraphale's smile.

“Look at you. Are you hiding in here?”

“'M'not hiding. Jusst relaxing.”

“Alright.” Aziraphale sat down beside Crowley, stretched across the blanket. “I was looking for you.”

“Well, you found me.”

“Am I bothering you? Do you want to be alone?”

“Nah.” Crowley tugged at his sleeve, and Aziraphale quickly understood and laid down next to him, laying a hand on his chest. His heart was still racing, after all these years. “You're always welcome in _my _paradise.”

Aziraphale snickered. “You sure?”

“_I promissse.”_


End file.
